Wire-stripping pliers



S. E. AARON.

WIRE STRIPPING PLIERS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 17. 1919.

Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

,90 lozzzon/ Aaron infinity 3 "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SOLOMON E. AARQN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

WIRE-STRIPPING PLIERS.

' Application filed April 17,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SOLOMON E. AARON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Stripping-Pliers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact 'description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it ape pertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to hand tools and especially to a type of tools such as are ordinarily used by electricians and others to facilitate the removal of insulation from various kinds of insulated wire and more particularly to expedite the removal of the jacket of what is technically known as round lamp-cord from the enveloped conductors; r 7

It is. one of the objects of the present invention to provide means which willrenable the rapid removal of the enveloping jacket of round lamp-cord not only with rapidity and accuracy but also with the least possible danger of mutilating the insulating or wrapping material which incloses the usual copper conductor or strands in the enveloped conductors.

Anotherobject of the present invention is to provide means which will erve as a guide andwhich is adapted to be adjusted to operate upon ,so-called roundlamp-cord wires of different sizes. Another object is to provide means operative for the above function and which may be readily applied to standard pliers, now constructed, or-to be constructe d at a minimum expense and which at the same time is durable, substantial, practicable and comparatively inexpensive, and further to provide means combining features to facilitate the splitting'or slitting of the outer jacket and also to enable the stripping of the inner conductors with facility, rapidity, accuracy and neatness;

lVith the above and other objects in view as will become apparent to those versed in the art, the invention consists in the construction, the combination, and in details and arrangement of parts as more particu larly described hereinafter relative to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of' .the im- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 28, 1920. 1819. Serial No. 290,842. I

proved pliers looking at the side of the tool with the improved splitters.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tool shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the tool lookmg toward the jaw and F 1g. t is an end elevation of the pliers looking toward the jaw and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the detached plates having the splitting and stripping means. I One of the common duties of electricians, linemen, electrical workers and others is to carefully expose the copper conductors or conducting strands indicated at S in Fig. 2, without mutilating or fracturing the conductors or strands and especially exposing the strands of one kind of electric wire commonly known as round lamp-cord indicated at C and in which there is embedded a pair of conductors or wires IV. prises an outer webbing of fabric sheath F within which there is body'or filler of rubber R enveloping the two wires W which are formed of any suitable'outer jacket within which there is inclosed the copper conductors S. It is very desirable that the wires Vv be exposed and the insulating material removed to bare the wire conductors or strands S and especially to avoid cutting, scraping, fracturing, or severing these metallic strands. To that end I have provided mproved means shown in combination with a pair of common pliers having the usual handles 2 and 3 which are respectively pivoted at 4 and provided at with upper and lower or opposed jaws 5 and 6 which have meeting faces 77. The hubs of the levers are shown at 8. The meeting faces of the jaws are recessed as at 9 and transversely disposed across one side of the recess and at the side of the jaws 5-6 are arranged the usual side cutters 10-10 having edges in the meeting plane of the jaws 5-5. In the practical use of the tool a piece of so-called cord or other elec trical wire may be readily cut in the usual manner by transverse insertion between the side cutters 10-1O which are brought together by pressure applied in the usual manner to the handles 2-3.

To provide for the rapid and effective splitting of a piece of electrical wire shown herein as of the round lamp-cord type, the

The cord C comthe opposite ends pliers are provided with a set of blades 1111-, each of which extends relatively transversely from its respective face of the r with respect to its pro ection from the side 1 opposing edges of which, at opposite sidesjaws 7.

a .to substantially bisect,

j of the arrow so as to split the with a relatively of the jaw, is provided side a lip 12, the

deep notch leaving at each of the notch are preferably shaped on a reentrant curve, and thus forming in each blade 11, one-half of a mouth which is formed when both of the blades are brought into meeting position by the closure of the As shown, the inner edges of the lips define a notch with initially convergent side walls, and located centrally between theside walls of the lips and projecting from the center or apex of each notch so as it is a tooth or splittingmeans 1a which, as shown, is of less length than the depth of the notch defined by the inner edges of the lips 13, so that when the blades 1111 are brought together to a distance which is determined by any suitable adjusting device, as, for instance, the screw 15 mounted in one of the levers and adjacent to and in the rear of the pivot d which controls the closure of the levers toward 7, each other, the insertion of the special teeth 14: into the jacket or envelop of theguard F is so limited that it will not S when the cord has been placed between the jaws and is being pulled in th; direction cor ' 'As clearly shown in Fig. 1, the central splitting tooth 14 has its edge beveled rearwardly and inclined upwardly so as to present a sharp and readily cutting edge to the enable the rapid cord as'the latter is drawn along thewire to rest between the blades 1111 while they are held closed.

It will be understood from the above that the round cord is embraced by the lateral prong or guide-like portions 1313 and which formthe mouth and laterally support the body of the wire. The

diameter of the wire or cord being operated on will determine the degree of closure of the jaws and the blades 11 and then the screw 15 is adjusted so as to prevent the jaws from closing to such an extent as would be likely to cause injury to the copper conductor or wires S.

-Preferably the central tooth or cutting member 14 is flanked on each side by deeper recesses 16 so as to permit the cutting tooth to enter readily to the desired depth and to drawing movement of the cord through the closed blades of the mouth. One advantage of this form of tooth and blade construction is that the cutting tooth between a pair of closed stripping enetrate to'and engage the metallic strands thus guide and 'strands'or wires S and for this purpose provide on the oppositeside of the plier jaws, blades indicated at 17 having their transverse edges disposed perpendicular to the sides of the jaws and at about the plane of the meeting faces 7-7 and beveled as clearly shown at 18; use of the stripping means or blades on conductors of. different sizes, I prefer that the edge of the blade 17 be provided with suitable notches 18 which difier in size to approximately fit wires of different diameters and thus when a wire is to be stripped of its jacket or insulating wrapper it isinserte d blades 17 and when these are closed together and wire pulled lengthwise of itself, the; insulation will beremoved and the bared, wire drawn through the. respective aperture 18' into which it may have been inserted. V V j In order to properly'center and guide the round cord when slitting the covering the dimensions from side to side between the guide walls and the notches should not be greater than the dimensions along ftheline bisecting both notches when the blades are closed rand at such time of course the ends of theslittin'g points should be separated a distancesomewhat less than the width 'of the orifice so that they may penetrate a round conductor. By deepening the notches relatively to their width. while still main-V taining the distance between the slitting points and particularly by also flaring the side walls slightly, as shown, the device is adapted to slit the covering of conductor cables of different diameters; and when so used the adjusting screw 15 will regulate the penetration of the slitting points. The adjusting screw 15 will also be useful when the instrument is to be set for first slitting relatively large round conductors and for'thereaftercleaning or stripping the wires,

Ihave illustrated the splitting and stripping meansas made integrally of a piece of plate having a transverse bar portion 19, perforated as at 20 to receive a screw or other fastening means 21 by which the central portion of the jaw may be clamped to the of the plier jaws as clearly To enable the effective and stripping device to be readily applied to pliers already constructed and in use.

Obviously my invention" may be variously ing incorporated in the construction of the pliers.

What I claim is l. Pliers having means for slitting the wrapping and the filler therein inclosing the usual conductors in round lamp-cord, comprising a pair of plates, each plate having a blade bent to stand transverse to the side of a jaw and perpendicular to the meeting or acting face thereof and having a lip shaped to form part of a mouth to laterally guide the cord drawn therethrough, and means for slitting the jacket of the cord as it passes the lip, said means comprising a central tooth with its edge transverse to the length of the lip.

2. A pair of pliers having, in combination, a set of U-shaped plates with the ends of each bent transversely to the body portions of the plates and adapted to form cooperatjaw members extending transversely on each side of the plier jaws, one of the bent ends of each plate having a central cutting tooth and side guide members for the pur pose specified.

8. The combination of a pair of pliers, having opposed aws, with cooperating blades attached to the jaws, one extending laterally from each side of each jaw, the

blades having cooperating guides and slit-.

ting points formed to guide and centrally slit round conductor cord when the aws are closed on one side of the jaws and cooperating stripping means on the other.

a. The combination of a pair of pliers, with a slitting and stripping plate attachable to the back of each jaw, each plate comprising spaced apart blades adapted to embrace the jaw, and a means whereby each said plate may be secured to its respective jaw, the cooperating blades on one side of the jaws having guiding and slitting means so formed as to guide and centrally slit round conductor cord when the aws are closed, and the cooperating blades on the other side having wire stripping means.

5. The combination of a pair of pliers, having opposed jaws, with cooperating blades attached to the jaws, one extending laterally from each side of each aw, the blades having cooperating guides and slitting points on one side of the jaws formed to guide and centrally slit round conductor cord when the jaws are closed and cooperating stripping means on the other and an adjustable device to limit the closing movement of the jaws whereby they may be adjusted to slit the insulation and then strip or clean the wires.

6. An instrument for slitting the insulation-covering of round insulated conductors, comprising a pair of opposed members relatively movable toward and from each other, each opposed member having a notch, provided with guiding and centering sides, corresponding to and mating with the notch of the other, a slitting tooth projecting from the apex of each notch in the direction of a line substantially bisecting them, the dimensions of the notches along a line bisecting them when the opposed members are in contact being at least as great as their width, whereby the instrument is adapted to center and guide round insulated conductors with respect to the slitting teeth.

7. An instrument for slitting the insulation-covering of round insulated conductors, comprising a pair of opposed members relatively movable toward and from each other, each opposed member having a notch, provided with guiding and centering sides, corresponding to and mating with the notch of the other, a slitting tooth projecting from the apex of each notch in the direction of a line substantially bisecting them, the dimension of the notches along a line bisecting them when the opposed members are in contact being greater than their width, and the distance between the ends of the slitting teeth being less than the distance between said guiding and centering sides when said members are in contact.

8. An instrument for slitting the insulation-covering of round insulated conductors, comprising a pair of opposed members relatively movable toward and from each other, each opposed member having a notch provided with guiding and centering sides that diverge adjacent the meeting surfaces of the members, a slitting tooth projecting from the apex of each notch in the direction of a line substantially bisecting them, the dimension of the notches along a line bisecting them, when the opposed members are in contact being greater than their width, and the distance between the ends of the slitting teeth being less than the distance between said guiding and centering sides, and an adjustable device for limiting the approach of the opposed movable members.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

SOLOMON E. AARON. 

